Wire-stretcher



(Model.)

1V1. A. HOWELL, Jr.

WIRE STRETGHER.

No. 246,511. Patented Aug. 30,1881.

` UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MAR'riN A. HowELL, JR., or oHmAeiLLINois.

WIRE-STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 246,511, dated August 30, 1881.

Application filed May 2, 1881.

To all 'whom it may camera:

Be it known that I, MARTiN A. HowELL, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have iuvented certain new and useful lmprovenients in Wire-Stretcliers; and I do hereby declare th at thefollo win g is a full, clear, and eXact description of the invent-ion, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates t improvements in wire-stretchers, more particularly for barbed Wire used in fencing, whereby the usual danger arising from the careless handling of the same in building` fence can be wholly avoided, in that it enables the person using the device to secure his hold upon the wire by a simple mechanical movement of the hand, by which he catches or hooks up the wire unon a prozo jectin g shoulder or hooked lip, which holds the Wire in its proper position to be grasped or clutched by the clamp, all the usual and unnecessary handlin g of the wire in order to place it in the mouth of the jaws being avoided; secondly, iu the arrangement and use of a movable or independent toothed segment or lug of hard or tempered metal, temporarily bolted or riveted to an eccentrically-pivoted jaw in a recess in said jaw, which is made of softer or malleable metal, whereby the expense of constructing the whole of steel, or of steel welded upon iron, and the usual uncertainties in tempering each separat-ely, can be overcome, and at the sametiinethenecessityofabandoningthewhole device as useless should a break in thejaw or teeth occur is overcoxne by the substitution of a duplicate toothed segment or lug, thus answering the double purpose of cheapness and utility, with the further economy as to ordinary breakage.

It is well known that the great improvements in the manufacture of barbed Wire have called for additional improvernents in the tools used to handle the same; that the almost universal adoption of steel wire requires steel clamps to hold it, the ordinary clamps being inoperative, and the construction of said clamps of steel entirely is too expensive that a stretcher combiningall the prominentfeatures embraced in the steel jaws and malleable-iron body to resist all possible strain from draft upon the han- (Model.)

dles, and by which the hold or gripe is rendered certain and safe, overcomes all objcctions as to utility, while its comparative eheapness gives it the preference in point of cost. 1 attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a side view of the stretcher as it appears in picking` up the Wire.

A represents a stationary shoulder having a projecting or hooked lip, upon or by means of which the wire is picked up or caught by the operator. This shoulder is a fixed part of the permanent jaw, to which it is attached, and to which the eccentric or movable jaw Cis pivoted.

B represents a movable or independent toothed segment or lug bolted into a recess in the eccentric O, which is shown more in detaii in Fig. 2, which represents a detached view of a portion of the movable jaw O or eccentric in a reversed position. The permanent jaw below and the movable jaw or eccentric above are both constructed in this case of soft malleable iron, while the toothedsegrnent or lug Bis constructed of tempered steel. It will be noticed that a bolt is used in this case in order to hold this toothed segment or lugin position. a bolt to enable an operator to replace a broken. lug` by a new one more easily and to save time thereby, though by riveting or wedging the steel lug into the soft malleable recess would be slightl y cheaper to the man ufacturer, but more expensive in the end to the Consumer. It will be seen, also, that upon the handle of the eccentrio G, Fig. 1, the eyehas alongoval shape,while that of the perm anent jaw below is circular and smaller in its diameter. The obj eet in constructing the eye of the eccentrie in this oblon g shape is to enable the eccentric to play more freely upon the ring, and to give a wider spread to the jaws in picking up Wire of larger diameter than could be done were both eyes constructed as in case of the permanent jaw, to which this is eccentrically pivoted.

Having fully described the operation of this clamp as operated with a ring, I would say that it is not absolutely necessary that a ring should be employed in allcases, for a rope or strap may be used.l Therefore I do not contine my invention to a clamp constructed strictly as described and operated by means of a ring and lever.

In definingmyinventionmoreclearly,Iwould IOO state that indcpendent or toothed jaws or lugs j have been used in a manner somewhat analogous to mine, as is shown in patent to Thompson,No.83,109. Myinventionisdistinctivewith respect to this, in that the single segmental toothed lug B is holted to a jaw eccentrically pivoted to a permanent jaw, and does not consist of two jaws in duplicate pivoted at points separate and opposite to each other, as in the Thompson patent.

That Iolaiin, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A wire-stretcher having a stationary jaw provided with a shonlder and projecting lip or hook, A, and a movable jaw, O, eccentrically 15 pivoted to said stationary jaw, snbstantiall y as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination With a movable jaw, C, eccentrically pivoted to a stationary jaw having a shonlder and projecting or hooked lip, A, an zo independent or movabie toothed segment or lug, B E, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

MARTIN A. HOWELL, JR.

Witnesses:

M. H. TnoMPsoN, A. D. PERRY. 

